Article 3 of the EMC Directive states, "...apparatus referred to in
Article 2 may be placed on the market or taken into service only if it
complies with the requirements laid down by this Directive when it is
installed and maintained and when it used for the purposes for which
it is intended."
That "placed into service" statement has been interpreted to
include any apparatus that is being used as intended. This would seem
to include demos and may even be stretched into use at shows.
As for "placed on the market", might this include demonstration at
a show and/or taking orders.
I don not find any exclusions for demos or shows listed in the EMC
directive. This analysis is my own of course.
Tom Whissel
Senior Compliance Engineer
Cabletron Systems, Inc.
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I don't have a copy of the EC EMC directive infront of me, but I'm fairly
certain that an Article in that tome gives equipment destined for
exhibitions a free run, and that may describe your Demo equipment.
France is a proud and individualistic nation with a long history of unique
scientific achievements and the world owes them much gratitude for such
things as the Metric System and a singularly large statue situated at the
entrance to New York's waterways.
This individuality shows at the extremes of the national behavioural map
as a particularly introspective view of the world which may seem to the
Cosmopolitanly Challenged amongst us as slightly 'difficult' or
'protectionist', but I am sure that this is a distorted view.
Europe has spent many years and expended much effort in finally getting all
the European States to agree a common date for the time change used for
Daylight Saving. Just as that was agreed, the French (for very good
reasons which are extensively discussed in the French technical press) have
had to pull out of the arrangement so painfully arrived at after so many
years, and make entirely different plans. I'm sure they had no other
choice, being uniquely placed so near the edge of the European land mass.
Many years ago, I recall it was reported that in order to import Video
Recorders into France, all had to be subject to the paperwork being
arranged in one particular small office in the middle of France, rather
than at the port of entry. This was a magnanimous gesture to speed things
up, as the office in question was very small, and underworked, and so could
concentrate on the task rather than making the applicants wait in a queue
at a noisy and smelly port. It also provided this office with valuable
work and alleviated the task placed hitherto on the port workers. This
arrangement was to everybody's advantage, though the more cynical amongst
the bitter baling hounds of the uninformed press suggested that this was a
slowing tactic to give local products an advantage. Pish, let their pens
turn to Grissini.
Have a good day,
Chris Dupres.
Surrey, UK
